Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played in a daring, combinational style.[2] His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. Every game, he once said, was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem.[3] He was often called "Misha", a diminutive for Mikhail, and "The magician from Riga". Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games (Burgess, Nunn & Emms 2004) and Modern Chess Brilliancies (Evans 1970) include more games by Tal than any other player. Tal was also a highly regarded chess writer.

He holds the records for both the first and second longest unbeaten streaks in competitive chess history.[4] Many authorities consider him to have been the greatest attacking Grandmaster in the history of chess.[5] On May 28, 1992, dying from kidney failure, he left hospital to play at the Moscow blitz tournament, where he defeated Garry Kasparov. He died one month later. The Mikhail Tal Memorial is held in Moscow each year since 2006 to honour his memory.